1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of receiving digital broadcast signals including print information, and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A service of printing datacasts is known as one of the datacasting services of digital terrestrial broadcasting, and digital televisions (DTVs) and printers that can carry out this printing service are known. With this printing service, the user can cause a printer to print “print content” based on print information included in a broadcast transmission (broadcast signal). Digital broadcasting standards and operation guidelines regarding printing services are described in the standards ARIB STD-B24, version 4.4, “Data Coding and Transmission Specifications for Digital Broadcasting” by the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, Japan, and in the technical report ARIB TR-B14, version 2.7, “Operational Guidelines for Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting” by the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses, Japan. ARIB STD-B24 and ARIB TR-B14 are available at the website of the Digital Broadcasting Experts Group (http://www.dibeg.org/aribstd/ARIBSTD.htm). Note that the versions of ARIB STD-B24 and ARIB TR-B14 available at the website are 5.1 and 2.8 respectively, due to the revisions of the specifications. In other words, the versions noted in the present application are different from those available at the website. However, there are no substantial changes between these versions with respect to the “printing service”.
In the printing service, ordinarily, the period during which particular print information is included in a broadcast transmission is limited. Accordingly, when the user desires to cause a printer to print particular print content, the necessary print information may not be included in the broadcast transmission, and the user may fail to obtain desired print content.
In view of the above, a print system has been proposed that realizes a method in which a DTV issues a print request to a printer at an appropriate timing designated by a broadcast station (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-229223).
Many of the currently available printers often cannot accept a plurality of print requests due to cost considerations, amongst other factors. This is because a printer needs to incorporate a storage area for storing print data in order to accept a plurality of print requests, and this leads to an increase in the cost of the printer. Accordingly, when a DTV issues a print request to a printer, if the printer is executing a print process based on another print request from a PC or the like, the printer cannot accept the print request from the DTV until the printer completes the print process being executed. When the printer completes the print process being executed, however, it is often the case that necessary print information is no longer included in the broadcast wave, and the problem arises that the user fails to acquire the desired print content.
In recent years, multifunction printers (MFPs) having many functions, such as printing, copying, scanning and faxing, have become widely used. Because an MFP typically receives print requests from many devices, it is more frequently in a situation in which it is executing a print process when receiving a print request than a single-function printer. Therefore, when an MFP is used to perform the service of printing digital broadcasts, the above-described problem becomes more prominent.
Regarding this problem, in the print system according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-229223, whether or not the printer is executing a print process based on another print request is not considered when the DTV issues a print request to the printer. Accordingly, the print system according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-229223 cannot solve the above problem.